4:30pm Marcos Siega, who has directed several episodes (as well as "True Blood" and other shows) moderates. A Season 1 sizzle reel opens the panel.

4:35 Ian's arrival gets the biggest cheer, followed by Paul and Nina.

4:39 Kevin won't give away whether Jeremy is going to be a vampire or not. "It's the whole fun of the return."

4:40 Julie Plec says that Tyler's mom will step in as interim mayor now that her husband is dead. Kevin said fans of the book know about the Lockwood family curse, which Tyler will learn about this season. "His uncle comes to town for the funeral... He may hold a lot of answers."

4:42 "I take my clothes off all the time," Ian says to great cheers as Kevin wonders which cast member should follow suit. The mention of Damon and Elena together, as a possibility, gets huge cheers.

4:43 Kevin said Stefan and Katherine will come face to face in the very first episode. "Katherine is a pimp," proclaims Nina. She said she likes to play "a bad girl" and "break hearts." Kevin says it's "freaky and scary" how good she is as Katherine.

4:45 Ian says "the nice Damon freaks me out. I don't know how to do it well." He said his favorite scenes are "the fun nutty kind of Damon."

4:46 Julie says Paul's hair has "it's own number on the call sheet." Nina adds that it's helicoptered in. Kevin says he has the best abs. Ian says they are "insane." The crowd roars their agreement.

4:48 Does Michael prefer Matt's sister or his mom for Tyler? "Why not both?" When asked "Caroline or Bonnie?," Steve replied, "Caroline" and then quickly tried to change the subject.

4:48 Paul hands Nina a Hershey's kiss. She wouldn't say whether Paul or Ian is a better kisser. "I'm the lucky one. I get to make out with them both."

4:51 Michael says he's scared to death because they don't want his transformation to look corny or to copy any other shows. Kevin says "it's really hard to fake that on a weekly basis," mentioning the werewolf movie he did once. "There will be a transformation. It'll happen. It'll be part of his journey."

4:52 "Anyone I date ends up dying," Steven points out. Kevin says deaths on the show have to come from "a place of good storytelling." He said Anna was going to be a smaller character but they loved her so much they expanded.

4:54 Will Damon turn good or more evil this season? Kevin said it won't be the easy answer.

4:55 Steve would like to see "Jeremy fight back a little more." Julie said his journey is "becoming a man" and figuring out "who you're supposed to be."

4:56 Matt would like his character to have a "filthy, dirty sex scene" with Jenna.

4:58 Paul thinks Stefan "should join a traveling circus." He enjoyed "indulging in the blood." He wants to see him "fulfill that vampire need" once in a while.

4:58 The panel joked about Stefan coming out of the closet.

4:59 "I'd love to do a flashback of Stefan in the 1980s dancing and having fun," Paul said. "I'm serious."

4:59 Nina said she'd like to see Elana "take on Katherine." She said she loves the depth to their characters.

5:00 Ian said he'd like to see flashbacks of Damon's past as well. "Front and center at a Rolling Stones concert in '69." He'd also like to see Damon get Stefan's bedroom.

5:00 Michael wants Tyler to have more time in the scripts (audience reply: awww). "It'd be funny to see some Lockwood ancestors fighting the Salvatores."

5:00 Julie and Kevin said there will be a lot more flashbacks in Season 2.

5:02 A fan asked Nina which Salvatore brother is more attractive. "Stefan is very attractive because he is protective and loves Elana unconditionally. And Damon is very attractive because he's fun and spontaneous." Paul declares that Stefan has bigger fangs.

5:03 The next fan asks which of the guys is least like their characters. "Paul is a down to earth, fun, chill guy," Nina answers. "Ian is exactly like his character." The two guys said they love making fun of each other on the show and in real life.

5:06 Ian said "I can't judge Damon" because that's bad for an actor to do. "It's an interesting journey with this Damon guy."

5:08 Nina joked, "we are actually vampires" when asked about how the special effects work.

5:09 Marcos said the fangs aren't digital. Kevin said they are careful not to show the guys talking with their fangs in.

5:10 Nina said they have black dots on their faces for the post production process. Paul said they used to wear contact lenses but the eyes are CGI now. Marcos said the hardest thing to paint in CGI "are their abs" to big laughs.

5:11 "You guys rock! Thank you!" Nina tells the crowd. Paul points out how many more people are here than last year.

5:12 Paul would love to play Damon for a minute. A fan asks Paul for the name card in front of him -- and he gives it to her! To huge applause, no less. We're wondering how much that will go for on eBay next week!

5:13 Kevin makes a surprise announcement! They wrapped the first episode yesterday and they put together a taste of the Sept 9 premiere for Comic-Con! In the clips, Katherine tells Damon she never loved him and tells Stefan she came back for HIM. "The problem, Katherine, is that I hate you," Stefan says to her. She stabs him in the stomach and tells him "that sounds like the beginning of a love story, not the ending."

DON'T FORGET: Check back with Hollywood Crush in the upcoming weeks as we reveal our taped interviews with the cast of "Vampire Diaries" at Comic-Con